Friday, 4 August 2017

The Zanu-PF Youth League will not rush President Mugabe
into naming his successor and does not have a preferred candidate, the wing’s
secretary Cde Kudzanayi Chipanga has said.

Addressing journalists in Harare
yesterday, Cde Chipanga said when the time comes, President Mugabe should
appoint a successor or give guidance to party members on the matter. For now,
he said, the Youth League had endorsed President Mugabe to lead the party in
next year’s elections.

Cde Chipanga said they were fully behind First Lady Amai
Grace Mugabe’s view that President Mugabe had a right and role to choose his
successor should he decide to retire.

“We support more than 100 percent the call by the First
Lady for the President to appoint or to even give guidance as far as the
processes are concerned to choose his possible successor when the time comes,
but we are not stampeding His Excellency to choose a successor,” he said.

“He can even go up to 2023, but when he then feels that he
needs to step down due to various reasons, yes we have given him that leverage
to guide the party when it comes to choosing his own successor. We as the Youth
League we are close to our Women’s League.

“We move in tandem, both of us are party wings. You have
even heard a slogan where we say “pane mwana ndopana amai” meaning we are one.”

Asked if the Youth League had a preferred candidate, Cde
Chipanga said: “It’s an idea not a position. As soon as it becomes a position
we will advise you. We have various ideas. Come 2018, we have a candidate and
he is President Mugabe.

“(As for the successor) we can only classify that possible
successor as a candidate when confirmed by the party, but at the moment we
don’t have a candidate.”

Cde Chipanga said President Mugabe would lead Zanu-PF in
next year’s harmonised elections.

He said there were no signs of incapacitation from the
President. “Our President is still strong as you can see him
addressing his party supporters for more than an hour whenever the need
arises,” he said.

“He is still fit to execute his duties. Mentally and
physically he is switched on.”

Speaking during the Women’s League National Assembly
meeting in Harare last week, Amai Mugabe slammed clandestine succession
meetings being allegedly held by some senior party members.

She said once President Mugabe names his successor, there
would be no need for those clandestine succession gatherings.